Master shipping container for multi-unit packages



Oct. 19, 1965 R. M. BENNETT 3,212,636

MASTER SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR MULTI-UNIT PACKAGES Filed Nov. 29, 1965 gJZ Zfl U LTUT TfU'U United States Patent 3,212,636 MASTER SHIPPINGCONTAINER FOR MULTI-UNIT PACKAGES Robert M. Bennett, Newtown Square,Pa., assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 327,010 1 Claim.(Cl. 206-65) This invention relates to packages and particularly to amaster shipping container for transporting a plurality of multi-unitpackages.

The invention is particularly concerned with the shipping of theso-called six-pack type packages, in units of four or more, in a mastershipping tray.

As is known to those familiar with the packaging art it is quite commonto package cans and/ or bottles of beer, soft drinks, and other productsin the so-called multipack type carton which is a tubular, open-ended,paperboard carton containing one or more parallel rows of articlesarranged in side-by-side relation.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide, in a master trayfor holding a plurality of open-ended carrier cartons, cushioning meansfor protecting the exposed articles at the open ends of the cartons.

A more specific object of the invention is a provision, in a tray of thetype described, of cushioning tabs cut from the marginal portions of thebottom wall and folded upwardly 90 between the tray side walls and theexposed articles at the ends of the cartons positioned within the trayto cushion the articles from damage due to shocks and bumps incurred innormal handling and shipping.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from anexamination of the following description and drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a tray embodying features of theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the structure illustrated in FIGURE 1,with the tray shown filled with multiunit packages;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section taken on line 3-3of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of a paperboard blank from which the tray ofthe other views may be formed.

It will be understood that, for purposes of clarity, certain elementshave been intentionally omitted from certain views where they arebelieved to be illustrated to better advantage in other views.

Referring now to the drawing for a better understanding of theinvention, and particularly to FIGURE 1 it will be seen that the trayembodying features of the invention may be formed from the one pieceblank B of suitable sheet material such as corrugated or solid fibrepaperboard, as illustrated in FIGURE 4.

The tray includes a generally rectangular bottom wall having opposedpairs of side and end walls 12 and 14 hingedly attached to andupstanding from the side and end edges, respectively, of the bottom walland interconnected at their ends to form a tubular structure open at thetop.

It will be seen that the side walls are preferably formed of a singlepanel; whereas, the end walls are formed from an outer end wall flap 16hingedly attached to and upstanding from an end edge of the bottom walland a pair of inner end wall flaps 18 hingedly attached to and extendinginwardly from the ends of the respective side walls to be secured to theouter end wall panel 16 in overlapped relationship.

As best seen in FIGURE 2, the tray is adapted to hold a plurality ofpackages P arranged in side-by-side relationship with the longitudinalaxis of the packages extending transversely across the tray, or normalto the longitudinal axis of the tray. Each of the packages P includes asleeve-type, open-ended, wrap-around paperboard carrier containing atleast one row of packaged articles such as bottles or cans A extendinglengthwise of the carton.

The essential feature of this invention resides in the means ofcushioning the exposed or end articles in each of the packages P. Thisis accomplished by cutting from the bottom wall 10 of the tray aplurality of longitudinally spaced cushion tabs 20 which are cut fromthe outer side edges of the bottom wall as at 22 and folded upwardlyfrom the bottom wall 90 so as to lie against the inside surfaces of theside walls 12 of the tray. As best seen in FIGURE 3, the tabs are hingedto the lower edges of the tray :side walls along hinge lines 24 and areso positioned as to be in abutting engagement with the outer surfaces ofthe exposed or end articles in each of the packages.

If desired the bottom wall of the tray may also have cut therefrom aplurality of transversely extending spacer or partition tabs 26 whichproject upwardly between adjacent packages housed within the tray.

Thus, it will be seen by this simple but ingenious arrangement it ispossible to double the cushioning efiect for the articles packagedwithin the tray without utilizing any additional board whatsoever, sothat a highly eflicient and economical package results from thearrangement of the invention.

I claim:

A master shipping container arrangement for multipackages comprising, incombination:

(a) a plurality of packages including open end cartons each containingat least one row of vertically disposed cylindrical articles with theend articles of the row having cylindrical side portions exposed;

(b) a master container, formed from a unitary blank of foldablepaperboard, for holding said cartons in side-by-side relation,including:

(i) a generally rectangular bottom wall having length and widthdimensions substantially equal to the combined length and widthdimensions of the Packages grouped within the container and supportingthe bottoms of the packages thereon;

(ii) opposed pairs of side walls hinged to and upstanding from the sideedges of the bottom wall, and hingedly connected to each other at theirend edges and disposed closely adjacent the sides of the packages forholding them;

(iii) a plurality of cushioning tabs cut from the bottom wall fromortions thereof each generally below a respective end article andhingedly attached to a respective side wall and folded up- Wardly 90from the bottom Wall to between said side wall and adjacent cylindricalside portions of related end articles for cushioning the end articleswithin the container.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JOSEPH A. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner.

